


Christmas Traditions

by bethbrokes



Category: Motive (TV)
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Fluff, Motive Gift Exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-30
Updated: 2014-12-30
Packaged: 2018-03-04 07:01:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2956739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bethbrokes/pseuds/bethbrokes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Angie and Oscar spend their first Christmas together. Post-S2 but minimal spoilers. Written for jackandsamforever for the 2014 Motive Gift Exchange.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Christmas Traditions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jackandsamforever](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jackandsamforever/gifts).



> So, I had this headcanon that Angie is a huge sci-fi nerd and she and Manny traditionally spend their Christmases marathoning Stargate and since you like both Motive and SG-1 I thought I'd slip it in, and this just spun off from there. Hope you like it!

 

Icy rain splattered against the Vancouver PD building. It was a week before Christmas, and the homicide office was covered in all manner of shiny, sparkly, and even fluffy decorations. Snowmen, reindeer, nativity sets, and even elves could be spotted on various tinsel-strewn desks across the room. However, by common consensus, there was no mistletoe - except of course the contraband sprig hanging from Betty's office door frame. Lucas had nearly been caught twice before he started avoiding that part of the morgue entirely.

It was late, with only a few people left in the building trying to catch up on paperwork before the holidays, or working overtime in exchange for more time to spend later with family. Oscar Vega sat at his desk (miniature potted Christmas tree, tinsel round the monitor, but not a single paper snowflake) in a stylish yet festive dark red sweater adorned with silvery-white snowflakes, with the expression of a man trying to suppress pure joy.

"Sure Dad, it's no problem at all. You have a great time in Tahiti... No, it's absolutely fine. Alright then, you have a Merry Christmas... yes sir. Bye." Oscar Vega set the phone down with an audible sigh of relief, and turned his chair to face his partner across the bullpen. "Hey Ange?"

"Yeah?" she swivelled away from her computer screen to answer, both hands wrapped around a mug of coffee resting at chest-height. Her Christmas sweater was practically the antithesis of Vega's, depicting a glittery, cartoonish Rudolph with a pompom nose.

"Is Manny still going to his dad's for Christmas?"

"Sure, why? Your dad going on another cruise to escape Christmas with the Vega clan?" she was smiling, teasing. Not that it might not be be true; Vega and his father differed in many ways, but a certain level of discomfort at large social gatherings was something they both shared. Particularly when family was involved.

"Can't say I blame the man. So you're free?"

"Ah, no." she took a sip of coffee and looked at him over the mug for effect "I have plans. Big plans."

He grinned. "You're gonna stay in your PJ'S and watch Star Trek all day." It was a statement, not a question.

"Hey, it's not Star Trek!" she slapped on an exaggerated 'hurt' expression before shifting back to her usual comfortable smile. "But yeah, you want in?"

"Do I have to watch Star Trek?"

"For that, you just might." She raised an eyebrow, daring him to complain. He raised his hands in surrender and she continued. "Sure, come to mine. I might even cook." she joked.

"I'll cook." he said, firmly, rising to her bait.

"You cook? Huh."

He chuckled, lightly shaking his head, and they both went back to their paperwork in comfortable silence.

 

* * *

 

Angie Flynn hadn't woken up to an empty house on Christmas morning in years. Before having Manny she'd spent the holidays with family, and when he was born they'd alternated between big family holidays and small ones with the just the two of them. Theirs were the best kind, as far as Angie was concerned. They'd get up mid-morning, unwrap presents in their pajamas, maybe make some pancakes for a late breakfast, and then watch reruns and videos of old shows until it was time to order takeout and call all their various relatives while they waited for it to arrive. Over the years a few people had joined in on their Christmas tradition - Mark Cross, for one - but it was always still  _ their  _ thing. Except this year it was just  _ her _ thing. And Oscar's.

She had sworn she'd never date a colleague again after she broke it off with Cross, and she'd certainly never expected it to happen with Oscar 'by-the-book' Vega, regardless of how much chemistry they had - but here they were, not exactly  _ sneaking  _ around, but definitely keeping it far away from work. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't thought about it in the five years they'd worked together, and every so often they'd have some drinks after a particularly tough case and their usual playfulness would turn flirtier, more dangerous, but he  _ knew  _ her rule, even if he didn't understand it. Until Cross turned up again. Strangely, that had been the deciding factor in her breaking the rule; with that case closed, she'd been able to move on. The post-debrief drinks had been  _ a lot  _ more interesting that evening. They'd set out the parameters for their relationship the morning after: at work they were just friends and co-workers, and outside work there was no shop talk, at least in theory. Betty had been told as soon as Vega had left that morning, but as far as Angie knew nobody else had guessed. Or if they had, they'd gone to Vega and he'd shut them down.

Angie smiled sleepily to herself at that thought, then checked her alarm clock: 10am. Oscar had said he was arriving about 11 with the turkey, so she swung out of bed and headed to her closet to pick out the perfect outfit.

The perfect outfit turned out to be some comfy jeans and a deep red sweater with a plunging cowl neck. She added minimal make-up and a pair of small diamond studs her not-so-secret Santa had left on her desk a few days before, then headed into the kitchen to switch the coffee maker on and dig out Manny's old box-sets.

Vega arrived a half hour early with a box of fresh doughnuts, a tote bag full of food, and some kind of grey knit loop scarf.

“Is that a snood? I had one like that in the 80s. Except it was pink.” She shut the door behind him as he edged past her into the hallway so they stood facing each other.

“Merry Christmas to you too.”

Angie grinned back and wrapped her arms around his neck to kiss him softly. “Merry Christmas. Coffee?”

“Coffee would be great. I didn't know if you were doing the pancake thing but the doughnut place was on the way, so...” Vega held out the box to her and she took it, leading him into the kitchen and putting the doughnuts on the counter. He took off his coat and the offending scarf and set the tote bag on the kitchen counter.

“You know me, I never turn down free doughnuts.” Angie took one out and poured coffee with her free hand, adding honey and skim milk while she finished it. She took the cup over to Vega, who was unpacking the tote onto the counter, and set it down next to him, before wrapping her arms round his waist from behind. “Hey good looking, whatcha got cooking?” Vega chuckled.

“Pretty standard Christmas fayre. Turkey, potatoes, honey roast turnips, carrot and orange purée, brussell sprouts with bacon lardons...” He listed the dishes as he lifted their components out of the bag.

Angie lifted herself up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek from over his shoulder. “You know, you didn't have to do all this. I could have cooked. Or we could have ordered takeout.” He turned around in her embrace and leant back a little against the counter, surveying her intently.

“We could have. We still can, if you want to? You know, if my cooking's that bad compared to Mr Tang's you can tell me.”

Angie smiled at that. “I swear, you have nothing to worry about in that department. I guess I'm just not used to this kinda thing.” He nodded reassuringly, and reached around to take her hands in his.

“Me neither. I just figured since takeout was yours and Manny's thing, maybe this could be our thing?” Angie hadn't considered that, but it  _was_ their first Christmas as a couple – hopefully the first of many, if she dared let herself think about it. She did now, and realised that if she could spend the rest of her Christmases with anyone but Manny, it would be Oscar for sure.

“I'd like that.” Vega beamed at her, and she found herself beaming back like a lovestruck teenager. She leant in to kiss him against the counter, their hands breaking contact so she could cup his face. His settled in the small of her back, pulling her against him.

After a long while, Vega broke the kiss, straightening up and shifting away from the hard edge of the counter. He flashed a quick smile, saying “That turkey's not gonna cook itself, you know.”

“Can I help?”

“Sure, how about vegetable duty?”

 

 

* * *

 

The credits rolled on their 3rd episode of Stargate SG-1, and Angie extricated herself from where she and Vega had been snuggling, vaguely tired and full of delicious food, to eject the DVD. Since Oscar had never seen it before, she'd decided to start him on the pilot and just go from there. So far he'd been pretty quiet about it, and she'd been content to just sit and watch it – occasionally pointing out when something exciting was happening. He'd taken a shine to Sam Carter, but he was quick to reassure Angie that she could definitely take her in a fight.

“So, what do you think? Do I put the next disc in, or switch to Star Trek?”

His face crinkled in a relaxed smiled. “I actually had something different in mind?”

“What, after all that food?” She pulled an exaggeratedly incredulous face, brow furrowed and lips pursed. He chuckled, and grabbed the remote.

“Not that, no. A surprise. Come here and close your eyes.” Now genuinely confused, she sat down next to him on the couch again. He did something that made the TV beep once, twice, three times, and then start... ringing? “Okay, open them.”

A widescreen image of Manny filled the screen and he broke into an amused smile at seeing her.

“Hey Mom, happy Christmas!”

They video-chatted with Manny for about an hour, exchanging details about their day, Manny talking about how weird it was spending Christmas away from home, Angie asking after his dad, and Vega chipping in about how this 'Space gate' thing wasn't half bad. Eventually they said a warm (and in one case slightly tearful) goodbye and Angie and Vega settled back down on the couch, both content just to snuggle a while, wrapped up in each other's arms.

Angie broke the silence after a few minutes, her head resting on her partner's shoulder as he absent-mindedly stroked her hair.

“Hey, Oscar?”

“Yeah?”

“We should do this again next year. With Manny. Just the three of us.”

He kissed the top of her head. “I'd like that.” She smiled, and snuggled closer to him.

“Me too.”

 

 


End file.
